Dennis McDermott

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Dennis McDermott (November 3, 1922 - February 13, 2003) was a Canadian trade unionist, Canadian Director of the United Auto Workers from 1968 to 1978 and president of the Canadian Labour Congress from 1978 to 1986.

Born in Portsmouth, England, McDermott immigrated to Canada in 1948 and settled in Toronto where he worked as an assembler and welder at the Massey-Harris plant.[1] He became a full time organizer for the United Auto Workers in Canada (UAW) in 1954.[2] He was elected Canadian Director of the UAW in 1968 and became an international vice-president of the union in 1970.

As leader of the Canadian UAW he also became a vice-president of the Canadian Labour Congress. He left the UAW in 1978 to become president of the CLC.

McDermott was a social activist and civil libertarian and joined the Joint Labour Committee to Combat Racial Intolerance soon after arriving in Canada working with the committee to lobby for the enactment of Ontario's first Human Rights Code. He would later serve on the executive of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.[1] He led the Canadian UAW to support the California grape boycott in the 1960s and 1970s.[3]

As CLC president, McDermott led a campaign against wage controls being implemented by the government of Pierre Trudeau in the early 1980s. Under McDermott, the CLC organized a 100,000 person protest against the federal Liberal government's economic policies in 1981.[3]

Following his term as CLC president, McDermott was appointed Canada's ambassador to Ireland in 1986 and served in that position until 1989.

McDermott was strong supporter of the New Democratic Party and organized the CLC to operate a political action program in support of the NDP in the 1979 federal election.[1]

Preceded by
Joe Morris		 President of the Canadian Labour Congress
1978-1986		 Succeeded by
Shirley Carr
Preceded by
George Burt		 Canadian Director of the United Auto Workers
1968-1978		 Succeeded by
Bob White

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c "Memorial Service for Dennis McDermott", Canadian Labour Congress, March 5, 2003 (accessed 3 November 2006).
  2. ^ "McDermott, Dennis", The Canadian Encyclopedia (accessed 3 November 2006).
  3. ^ a b "Former CLC president Dennis McDermott dies at 80", National Union of Public and General Employees, 14 February 2003 (accessed 3 November 2006).
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